In Academy Award-winning director James Marsh’s new film ‘Shadow Dancer’, the story of a young mother torn between family loyalties and personal freedom places Northern Ireland’s troubled past in a quietly personal and intimate setting. Featuring a diverse cast of British and Irish actors, and shot on location in Dublin, ‘Shadow Dancer’ is one of the most fascinating representations of the troubled period which defined Northern Ireland in recent decades.

The film begins in Belfast in 1973 with a young girl, Colette McVeigh, sending her younger brother on an errand her father had asked her to do, only to see her brother carried into their home minutes later with a gun shot to the chest. Consumed with guilt and fear, the film flashes forward twenty years to London, where an older Colette is seen planting a bomb on the London Underground and then fleeing from the scene. Quickly caught by the police, the plot takes a surprising turn when it is immediately revealed that Colette never set the timer on the bomb. From here, director Marsh calmly sets up the main drive of the film: Colette, eager to escape from her involvement with the IRA (Irish Republican Army) can either agree to work for the British police as an informant on her family’s terrorist activities or she will lose her son and be sent to jail for twenty five years.

The strength of ‘Shadow Dancer’ rests in Marsh’s ability to mine gold out of a relatively-sparse screenplay. Moments of dialogue are few and far between, and in a Q&A session following a screening at the Belfast Film Festival, Marsh revealed that this led to the significance of costume and color in scenes where characters needed to make their presences known without any verbal introduction. Colette’s red coat in particular drew attention from audience members, with one person at the Belfast Film Festival screening linking it to Marsh’s previous work on the ‘Red Riding’ series for Channel 4.

As for the cast, there is not a flaw to be found. Andrea Riseborough is captivating as Colette, a woman whose domestic struggle (staying with the ignorant way of thinking exemplified by her brothers or leaving with her son who signifies the innocence of a new generation uncorrupted by sectarian bigotry) drives the narrative. Clive Owen is equally solid as Mac, the MI5 member who takes a personal interest in ensuring her safety. Strong supporting performances come from Gillian Anderson, Brid Brennan and Martin McCann, whose quiet turns in the film respect the tone and assist in making ‘Shadow Dancer’ a successful depiction of life and hardships for the contemplative individual in the midst of ongoing political strife and painful national division.

‘Shadow Dancer’ will be released in UK cinemas on August 25.

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Terri Hooley may not be a household name, but to a music fan and punk lover in 1970s Belfast, he is a local treasure. Now, in his biopic ‘Good Vibrations’, named after the record store and label he owned in the city, the story can be told of how he gave punk a voice in a place city at a very troubled time.

Starring Richard Dormer and Jodie Whittaker, ‘Good Vibrations’ charts the journey of Terri (Dormer) from rock-bottom pub DJ to store owner and independent record producer. The Belfast Film Festival website lists the following synopsis, “Terri Hooley is a radical, rebel and music-lover in 1970s Belfast when the bloody conflict known as the Troubles shuts down his city. As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an alternative Ulster, to bring his city back to life.”

He discovers one band, The Undertones, whose song ‘Teenage Kicks’ has gone on to become a punk anthem and covered by dozens of artists in the 34 years since its release. Yet, for the most part ‘Good Vibrations’ tells the story of a man who never achieves long-lasting success because he is led by sentiment and passion rather than any clear-headed business sense.

As a result, the film shows Terri’s marriage suffering, his finances waning, his drinking increasing and his focus wandering to the point where he is the victim of a brutal physical assault in his own store. Still, Terri’s resolve inevitably returns no matter how many times he gets knocked down, and it is this which drives the film through a somewhat meandering plot and ultimately unconventional conclusion. Terri’s optimism and idealism make him an incredibly endearing figure, due in large part to the sincerity and wholeheartedness with which Dormer brings to the role.

‘Good Vibrations’ launched the 2012 Belfast Film Festival, and it was clear from some audience feedback that it was a refreshing change to see a big-screen representation of Northern Ireland which did not exclusively detail the Troubles. Rather, this film operates on the level of almost any biopic, where the historical and political context remains mainly on the fringe while the personal trumps and failures elevate the narrative beyond any single cultural consciousness. Audience member Eamonn Knocker told Toonari Post, “I liked the fact that it was a part of Belfast history, that it was funny and sad, and that it’s a change [from films about The Troubles]“.

With the festival being bookended by ‘Whole Lotta Sole’, already previewed by Toonari Post, the message is loud and clear that Northern Ireland is acknowledging its past difficulties while still finding ways to move forward and explore new characters and untold stories.

Image Courtesy of  Terri Hooley

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The enigmatic Christopher Plummer gracefully accepted the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal as a closeted gay man who takes the leap and owns up to his identity when diagnosed with terminal cancer. The announcement, however, comes as a shock to his grown son, played by Ewan McGregor.

The 82-year-old actor was immortalized after appearing in the Oscar-winning ‘The Sound of Music’, which made cinematic history in 1965. Since then, Plummer has enjoyed a diverse career, including ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ (1975), ‘The Silent Partner’ (1978), ‘Malcolm X’ (1992), ‘The Insider’ (1999), ‘Syriana’ (2005) and ‘The Last Station’ (2009).

The Oscar press corps were ready to ask the elated winner about his win.

Q. The obvious question: How does it feel to be the oldest Oscar winner ever?

A. I don’t believe that for a second. I think that Charlie Chaplin, even though it was an honorary Oscar wasn’t he 83? I mean, an honorary Oscar after all is an Oscar, we hope.  I’m not sure, but it feels pretty good anyway.

Q. I’m getting married soon, so I would love to talk about your wife. You’re so romantic when you thanked her for rescuing you. What does that mean and tell me about your wife?

A. What do you think it means? I thought it was abundantly clear. Of course, I’m a naughty boy. I’ve been bad all my life, and she always puts me in line. I think it’s great what she’s done. It’s extraordinary. But it doesn’t strike you when you hear the phrase, “She rescues me every day of my life”? What could be clearer?

Q. Good evening. Congratulations, and I’m curious how you look back at awards of any kind, specifically, the two nominations and now the first Oscar win. In terms of a measure of a career, because it’s, obviously, not the reason you do things, but what kind of dessert topping does it put on a distinguished career?

A. That’s absolutely a wonderful phrase. It is a le creme on top, and it’s lovely to be sort of accepted, because you know that beyond the pleasure of working in front of a live audience, particularly, it’s a general acceptance of your work. So it’s thrilling, and I don’t pretend not to poo poo awards, although there’s so many of them, I can’t keep up. I mean, they’re inventing a new one every day.

Q. Mr. Plummer, congratulations. Congratulations, on your role, it was very charming and lovely. And the Academy has a long history of awarding straight actors for gay roles. Do you think there’s a double standard for the public supporting gay actors in real life as opposed to on film?

A. Well, I think of actors as being universally the same, gay or straight. We’re all actors, and a gay actor can play a straight guy beautifully and vice versa. It’s wonderful, because it cancels out all of the sexual differences and all the sort of preconceived misunderstandings of a sexual existence.

Q. Hello, Mr. Plummer, congratulations. I just wanted to ask you, for you, is this a beginning for you tonight and what do you think it’s the beginning of?

A. Well, it is sort of a renewal, it’s not a beginning exactly, but it has recharged me and I hope I can do it for another ten years at least. I’m going to drop dead wherever I am, on stage or on the set. We don’t retire in our profession, thank God.

Q. You always do a good job. In your long and illustrious career, who stands out as your favorite actor besides yourself? Who did you look up to?

A. No, not myself. Tons of actors for different reasons. In the French cinema we had when I grew up, I saw a lot of French film, because I lived in Quebec from France, great actors and Pierre Brasseur, Lewis Gilbert, and people who are just extraordinary stage actors, particularly although they did do film. And the great classical actors that inspired me when I was quite young [inaudible], and then later the whole new school of Marlon Brando. I lived through all of those various changes, and they all had their made their mark upon me, thanks.

Q. I’m so excited. I see you’re wearing your Order of Canada pin. I wanted to know why you decided to wear that tonight?

A. I do because I sort of feel that I’m in a way representing my country here tonight, just as Max was representing Sweden. And I feel that my country gave me the highest this is the highest civil honor that a Canadian can get and I’m very proud of it and I think an evening like this deserves to have all the medals and awards showing, so that’s why I did it.

Q. You were born in 1929?

A. Yes.

Q. The same year as the Oscar?

A. Yes.

Q. And you won the award for being an old man, at the age of 70. So I wondered if it mattered to have a naked man in your own hands. Are you brave enough to say that you love him?

A. The question is I’m sorry do I love the Oscar?

Q. Yeah.

A. Well, if the Oscar is gay, yes, of course.

Q. Just another Canadian question.

A. Oh, God.

Q. Can you bring back anything during the war, growing up during the war that gave you so much strength? Canada is so much a part of your life and it was such a strength, you know, [inaudible].

A. Yeah, it was great to grow up in Quebec, particularly, because Quebec never closed.  Montreal stayed open 24 hours a day, even jaded New Yorkers would come up and enjoy the night life in Montreal. I’m glad I grew up in a really racy town, and it was marvelous and the cabaret was so important. Piaf, Chevalier, we had a young Julie Garland, Frank Sinatra, and you can see these people for nothing, just sitting at a bar and having a beer.  It was a glorious time in Montreal and I was lucky enough to be there. The courage that you talk about was from my mother who was in the first Great War as a nurse, and anything that she lived through a pretty horrific time. I don’t know if that’s funny to some of you. Oh, there’s two things going on here, all right. Does that answer your question a little bit?

Image Courtesy of  Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

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Legendary American actor John Wayne, an icon of the western movie genre, left behind over 750 awards, scripts, costumes and other memorabilia which are set to be sold at a public auction next month.

The items, which were kept in a private vault by the actor’s family for 30 years, includes props from such beloved movies as The Searchers, Rooster Cogburn and the 1969 version of True Grit, for which Wayne won an Oscar — but also, as cbsnews.com reports, an Andy Warhol rendition of a John Wayne still from the movie ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’. The signed limited edition print was included in Warhol’s 1986 “Cowboys and Indians” series without permission. Wayne had passed away before then and the problem was resolved with the Warhol Foundation gifting the print, along with others, to the family. Other quirky collection items can be found among genuine movie props.

A public exhibition in New York of the remarkable collection drew fans and followers from around the country. “Ever since I saw him in ‘The Quiet Man,’ I absolutely adored him,” Maria Gardner, 75-years-old devotee of Long Island, told NYdailynews.com.

It was the Duke’s family who was behind the exhibition at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, New York. “I’m really excited because my dad was very concerned with his fans, he answered every piece of fan mail that came in and tried to take time to talk with everybody that came up to him and we’ve had requests for years to do something like this and it took a long time to go through.” said Marisa Wayne to the BBC. “We had all of this in storage and it’s taken years to get through it all and sort it out but we’re really excited that we can do this and offer it out to the fans.”

His son Patrick spoke lovingly of his legendary father whom he said was ‘ambitious’ enough to would have succeeded in anything. “Had he gone to the navel academy, he would have been a head of the navy, [had] he gone through [to] finish college he would have been the president of the United States. He was gonna be a success at whatever he chose [and] ended up in films.”

The Duke, who died in 1979 from stomach cancer, had a movie career that span 50 years and won numerous award, including an Academy Award for best actor. The exhibition of his career will go on display once more in Los Angeles October 3-5 while the auction will take place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles October 6-7, 2011.

Image Courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1543148174/

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